The University of Iowa (UI), chartered within the
first two months of statehood in 1847, exemplifies Iowa's commitment
to innovative leadership in education, research, and service. In 1855,
the year classes began, the UI became the first public university to
admit women on an equal basis with men. Today, under the leadership
of President Mary Sue Coleman and Provost Jon Whitmore, a distinguished
faculty of nearly 1,800 attracts 28,000 students from every county in
Iowa, all 50 states, and 99 foreign countries.

In recent national rankings, these are some of the University's programs
that have been rated among the nation's elite: communication studies,
engineering, creative writing, art and art history, political science,
English, business administration, education, speech pathology and audiology,
otolaryngology, physical therapy, sociology, social psychology, ophthalmology,
rehabilitation counseling, the physician's assistant program, orthopedics,
accounting, economics, family and rural medicine and a number of other
medical specialties, law, dentistry and nursing.

A strategic planning process, begun in 1988, focuses university efforts
for achieving distinction in the 21st century in the arts, human and
environmental health, the biosciences, basic science and technology,
and literature/discourse/critical analysis. The primary goal is strengthening
undergraduate teaching.

Fiftyseven percent of the students are enrolled in the College of Liberal
Arts, which includes the schools of Art and Art History, Journalism
and Mass Communication, Library and Information Science, Music, Religion,
and Social Work, and numerous academic departments and interdisciplinary
programs. Another 23% are enrolled in the Graduate College, and about
10% are in the professional colleges of Dentistry, Law, and Medicine.
Other colleges are Business Administration, Education, Engineering,
Nursing, and Pharmacy. The UI now grants nearly 6,000 degrees each year
255,566 thus far. More than 60 percent of its students are from Iowa.

The University of Iowa has produced 18 Rhodes Scholars, 15 Pulitzer
Prize winners, 67 National Science Foundation Young Investigators, and
numerous Guggenheim, National Endowment for the Humanities, and senior
Fulbright Fellows. Three UI biomedical scientists were named Howard
Hughes Medical Institute Investigators in 1989; other recent honors
to UI faculty include five professors named to the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences, four to the Institute of Medicine, one to the
National Academy of Sciences, the 1989 Crafoord Prize by the Royal
Swedish Academy of Science, the 1990 Award for Distinguished Service
to the Arts from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters,
recent MacArthur Fellowships from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation and the 1996 Pulitzer prize for poetry. The University is
one of 57 members of the select Association of American Universities.
In 199798, UI faculty members won $217.3 million in federal and private
support for research and development. Since 1966, UI has won $3 billion
in competitive grants and contracts.

In more than 90 formal research units, UI investigators explore such
emerging technologies as image processing, gene mapping, pharmaceutical
development, bioprocessing, and computer design. In biomedicine, the
UI is a leader in microbiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology.
The Institute of Hydraulic Research is a world leader in basic and applied
fluids research. As part of the UI academic mission, technology transfer
programs encourage corporate relationships. The UI Research Foundation
patents UI intellectual property and licenses the inventions for commercial
development. The Technology Innovation Center (TIC) offers a sheltered
environment for new, technology based business ventures that attract
$20 in capital investment for every $1 of state support for the TIC.
Researchbased companies that require sustained UI relationships can
locate at the UI Oakdale Research Park. The Office of Research Marketing
fosters corporate access to UI research assets and capabilities.

University of Iowa scholars and scientists have pioneered in such fields
as psychology, radiation belts, new moons of Saturn, and radio emissions
from Jupiter. Out of the UI research efforts have come such innovations
as a multispecialty program for the care of cleft palate patients and
the designation of the UI by the National Institutes on Health as the
main medical center for evaluating performance of the many types of
cochlear implants, in recognition of Iowa's leadership in the surgical
implant and clinical followup of these devices.

Researchers at the Iowa Driving Simulator (IDS) develop worldclass computer
technology that will design, test, and implement transportation products
and systems at a fraction of the cost of traditional engineering. Working
with sponsoring companies and federal agencies, IDS researchers explore
everything from the effect of drugs and medical treatments on drivers'
eyesight to the design of new vehicles and offroad equipment. By the
turn of the century, the UI will be home to the world's most sophisticated
driving simulator, the National Advanced Driving Simulator.

The UI is renowned for its leadership in writing not only in developing
the Writers' Workshop, the Playwrights Workshop, a distinguished nonfiction
writing program, and the world's only International Writing Program
but also in improving the teaching of writing at all levels of education.
In 1922, the University became the first to accept creative work to
meet thesis requirements for graduate degrees in the arts, and it continues
to offer excellent programs in creative writing, dance, theatre, music,
and art.

The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC)
is one of the largest universityowned teaching hospitals in the nation.
Its staff of more than 1,200 physicians and dentists is complemented
by the most advanced medical technology available in providing health
care to more than 500,000 admitted and ambulatory clinic patients annually.
Iowans comprise 90% of the patients at UIHC, although patients from
across the nation and several foreign nations are referred to this center
by their physicians for specialized health care.

Expertise in bone marrow and organ transplantation at UIHC is worldrenowned.
The hospital was also chosen to be among the first in the world to use
a positron emission tomograph (PET) scanner. In 1996 it was ranked by
U.S. News and World Report as one of the nation's best hospitals, and
in 1995 it was listed in the book The Best Hospitals in America.

As Iowa's major teaching hospital, UIHC is the clinical
training base for 43 University of Iowa health education programs that
replenish the supply of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other health
professionals for Iowa communities.

The UIHC Indigent Patient Care Program enables Iowans
who cannot otherwise afford the health care they require to be served
at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. A fleet of vans
provides doortodoor transportation to University Hospitals form their
homes throughout the state.

Emergency patient transportation is provided by two
helicopters and two mobile care units, which support communitybased
physicians and hospitals when they request that patients be transferred
to UIHC.

In 1994, the University formed the Health Sciences
Center, bringing together the research, teaching and service components
of its health sciences colleges, the UIHC, and the University Hygienic
Lab.

The UI is a statewide cultural resource, offering
arts programming to more than 100,000 Iowans annually. It brings internationally
recognized performers to the 2,500seat Hancher Auditorium, acclaimed
by The New York Times as a "creative center" for its commissions
and premiers of new works. Hancher enjoys wide regional support for
its activities; in recent seasons, the auditorium has had attendance
of more than 100,000 and has surpassed $2 million in ticket sales and
is approaching its 4 millionth customer. The Museum of Natural History;
the Iowa Hall exhibits on Iowa's geology and archaeology; the Museum
of Art; and Old Capitol, Iowa's first state capitol building and the
symbol of the university, attract thousands of tourists and visitors
each year. The UI is a leader in information technology, having developed
one of the most progressive computing centers in the nation. Each day
thousands of World Wide Web users visit such innovative UI offerings
as the Virtual Hospital and the UI Libraries' Gateway to the Internet.
The UI is also a pioneer in putting technology in its curriculum through
its technologypacked Information Arcade and Information Commons, which
put powerful learning tools in the hands of teachers and students alike.
UI openstack libraries, ranking among the nation's largest, house more
than three million volumes and a wealth of special collections, including
papers and letters of U.S. Presidents and leading Iowa figures, the
Iowa Women's Archives, and manuscripts and first editions of many Iowa
authors. Iowa residents across the state may borrow UI books on interlibrary
loan through their local libraries.

By ensuring admission to those in the upper half of
their graduating classes in Iowa high schools, and by offering public
services in health care, economic forecasting, smallbusiness consulting,
economic development, assistance to local schools and teachers, testing
programs, arts outreach, offcampus and correspondence study, and special
summer programs in arts, sciences, and athletics, the UI strives constantly
to make its resources available to all Iowans. Through innovative programs
such as Opportunity at Iowa, the University fosters a culturally diverse
learning environment that promotes wider understanding throughout the
state and nation.

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

Martin C. Jischke, Ph.D., president; Ames 50010; 515/294-6136

www.iastate.edu

As Iowa's land-grant university, Iowa State University works for Iowa
in many important ways. Iowa State provides high quality education for
undergraduate and graduate students in the land-grant tradition of combining
practical programs with the liberal arts and sciences. Its research in
agriculture, science, technology and other areas addresses some of the
most important issues facing Iowa, the nation and the world. Its outreach
efforts are creating the technology transfer and distance learning programs
that will serve Iowa into the 21st century.

Iowa State has embarked on an ambitious and aggressive effort to become
the nation's best land-grant university. Its Strategic Plan (1995-2000)
has identified six goals and a comprehensive set of benchmarks to measure
its progress toward those goals. The goals are: strengthening undergraduate
program, strengthening graduate education and research, strengthening
outreach and extension efforts, sustaining and enhancing an intellectually
stimulating campus environment, establishing international leadership
in information and computer technology, and strengthening the economic
development of Iowa.

Iowa State University was created by the Iowa General
Assembly in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm. It
was designated Iowa's land-grant institution in 1862 and held its first
classes in 1869. It was renamed the Iowa State College of Agriculture
and Mechanic Arts in 1898 and became Iowa State University of Science
and Technology in 1959.

Today, Iowa State is a broad-based university of international
stature, with a diverse enrollment. Its 21,000 undergraduate students
and 4,000 graduate students come from all 50 states and nearly 115 other
nations. For the past three years (1996, '97, `98), Iowa State has ranked
among the top six public universities in the nation in the number of
Freshman National Merit Scholars. Through its on-campus programs, an
increasing number and variety of distance-education programs, and expanded
internships, co-op programs and study abroad opportunities, Iowa State
offers its students an education that prepares them to be successful
professionally and as citizens of the world.

ISU's colleges of Agriculture, Business, Design, Education,
Engineering, Family and Consumer Sciences, and Liberal Arts and Sciences
offer more than 100 programs of study leading to baccalaureate degrees:
Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Architecture, Bachelor
of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, Bachelor of Music
and Bachelor of Liberal Studies. The Graduate College offers approximately
120 programs leading to master's degrees: Master of Arts, Master of
Agriculture, Master of Architecture, Master of Community and Regional
Planning, Master of Education, Master of Engineering, Master of Fine
Arts, Master of Landscape Architecture, Master of Public Administration,
Master of Science, and Master of School Mathematics. The Graduate College
offers approximately 100 programs leading to the Doctor of Philosophy
Degree (Ph.D.) and a program leading to the Specialist degree in school
psychology. The Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree is offered by the
College of Veterinary Medicine.

Instruction is offered throughout the year. The academic
year is divided into two semesters of 16 weeks each, beginning in late
August and ending in early May, and two summer sessions, from mid-May
through early August.

Iowa State is a member of the prestigious Association
of American Universities, which consists of the top research universities
in North America, and is a "Carnegie I" university, which
recognizes the top level of universities in graduate education and research.
Sponsored funding has increased from just over $100 million in 1988-89
to more than $190 million in 1996-97. Research productivity is also
setting records. Since 1989, Iowa State has ranked among the top 14
universities in the nation in the number of patents awarded, including
fifth in 1995 and 1996; and in 1996 and 1997, Iowa State ranked third
in the nation in the number of licenses and options executed on university-generated
technology innovations. In addition, Iowa State ranks second among all
universities with 19 R&D 100 Awards, which recognize the 100 top
technological innovations each year.

Iowa State has one of the most extensive and sophisticated
campus-wide computing platforms in the nation, with more than 15,000
terminals and workstations. The academic computing network is named
for John Vincent Atanasoff, who invented the electronic digital computer
while a professor at Iowa State in the late-1930s, gives students, faculty
and staff access to high-speed computing centers on campus, to each
other, and to outside data bases and networks.

The Ames Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy,
one of the world's leading materials and fossil fuels research facilities,
is located at Iowa State. Iowa State also has one of the most modern
computer virtual reality environment laboratories in the nation, called
C2, and its new Engineering Teaching and Research Complex (ETRC) will
include a new generation VR facility, C6.

Other major research centers at Iowa State include:
the Institute for Physical Research and Technology (IPRT) and its member
centers (Microelectronics Research Center, Center for Nondestructive
Evaluation, Center for Advanced Technology Development and the Airworthiness
Assurance Center of Excellence), Utilization Center for Agricultural
Products and its member centers (Center for Crops Utilization Research,
Meat Export Research Center, Linear Accelerator Facility); Center for
Designing Foods to Improve Nutrition, National Soil Tilth Laboratory,
Ames Center for Animal Health, Institute for International Cooperation
in Animal Biologics, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa
Energy Center, the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics,
the Institute for Social and Behavioral Research, Seed Science Center,
and several research initiatives in agricultural biotechnology. With
new appropriations totaling $2.4 million from the State of Iowa in FY'98
and '99, Iowa State has begun to build a Center of Excellence in the
Fundamental Plant Sciences, and in 1999, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
National Swine Research Center opened.

In 1996, Iowa State launched its largest private fund-raising
campaign everthe five-year, $300 million "Campaign Destiny:
To Become the Best." That goal was reached after three years, and
a new goal of $425 million, also to be reached by June 30, 2001, was
established. Private fund-raising topped $100 million in FY'97, '98
and '99, setting an all-time record of $106 million in FY'99. These
funds are enhancing the broad range of Iowa State's academic programs
and facilities, such as the Engineering Teaching and Research Complex,
endowed chairs and professorships, and library acquisitions. In addition,
$75 million has been raised through the President's Scholarship Campaign
to create endowments enabling hundreds more students each year to attend
Iowa State. One of the largest of these programs is the Christina Hixson
Opportunities Awards Program, which was launched in 1995 and provides
full-tuition scholarships, renewable for four years, to one student
from each Iowa county who faces a difficult financial or personal situation.

At the heart of the university is the Iowa State Library, with more
than 2 million volumes, 22,000 periodicals, and 2 million other materials.
It includes the latest in computerized catalog and records services,
and has access to library data bases throughout the nation and the world.
The library has nationally recognized collections in the physical and
life sciences, and has extensive holdings in agriculture, botany, chemistry,
entomology, mathematics, and veterinary medicine. It also houses the
Archives of Women in Science and Engineering.

Iowa State University is proud of the role it has
played in the development of Iowa, the nation and the world. Iowa State
is the birthplace of the Cooperative Extension Service system and the
nationwide system of Agricultural Experiment Stations. Today, Iowa State
Extension provides research-based, unbiased information and education
to Iowa young people, families, communities, agricultural enterprises,
and businesses. Efforts in value-added agriculture support the continued
profitability of agri-business, and Extension's Center for Industrial
Research and Service and its leadership in the Iowa Manufacturing Technology
Center provide important support to Iowa's manufacturing sector. Through
its Extension 21 initiative, Iowa State is building the model for Extension
for the next century. Extension 21 focuses on increasing the competitiveness
of Iowa's rural and urban communities, private sector business and industry,
and public sector programs and services.

Iowa State's research and outreach efforts have provided
assistance to persons in all corners of the globe. The university has
more than 150 active agreements or contracts with educational and research
institutions in all parts of the world. Two of the largest international
efforts are the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, created
in 1958, and, more recently, the International Institute for Theoretical
and Applied Physics (IITAP), a partnership with the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to use science and technology
to help developing nations improve their economies. In 1998, Iowa State
took the lead in the creation of the Global Consortium of Agricultural
Universities to increase collaboration in agricultural curricular reform.

Adapting the land-grant philosophy to the changing
needs of the 21st century, Iowa State University has maintained preeminence
in the areas of agriculture, family and consumer sciences, science,
engineering, and veterinary medicine, but has also expanded significantly
into other areas to the point that its largest enrollment is now in
liberal arts and sciences. Iowa State is also a leader in information
technology, and its fastest growing enrollments are in these fields.
Increasing numbers of students find in the broad-based curriculum of
Iowa State opportunities to specialize in excellent programs of science
and technology, and to acquire a broad general background of education
in the liberal arts tradition.

Iowa State continues to make significant progress
on the six goals of its Strategic Plan and toward its aspiration of
becoming the nation's best land-grant university. Becoming the best
means being the best at meeting the educational, research and outreach
needs of the people Iowa State University was created to servethe
people of Iowa.

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA

Robert D. Koob, president; Cedar Falls 50614; 319/273-2311

www.uni.edu

The University of Northern Iowa prides itself on providing
a student-centered coeducational experience, and has a reputation for
providing exceptional undergraduate education, as well as complementary
programs at the master's, specialist, and doctoral levels. Building
on its historic excellence in teacher education, the University has
developed outstanding programs in its Colleges of Business Administration,
Humanities and Fine Arts, Natural Sciences, as well as in the College
of Education.

The University's medium size - approximately 13,300
students, from every county in Iowa, 46 states and 55 foreign countries
- allows it to offer a distinguished faculty, facilities and academic
choices of a major university, while retaining a friendly, small college
atmosphere, on a compact, park-like walking campus. With 40 major buildings
on 850 acres, the campus can be crossed in an easy 10-minute walk.

Experimental learning opportunities such as undergraduate
research, internships, student teaching, international study programs,
community service and cooperative education encourage a classroom knowledge
connection with real-world experience. UNI faculty recognize the value
of a liberal arts education and, thus, a rigorous General Education
curriculum equips students with a broad understanding and knowledge
of how to apply and acquire new information throughout life.

In keeping with its emphasis on lifelong learning,
UNI also offers an evening degree program with a long-term schedule
of classes so students can complete an undergraduate or graduate degree
by taking courses only at night. The University's Division of Continuing
Education and Special Programs sponsors classes off-campus in centers
throughout the state, including several degree programs that allow completion
of a degree with little or no on-campus course work. In addition, UNI
has been a leader in the use of the Iowa Communications Network for
instruction throughout the state and across all disciplines, and has
successfully used the Internet for course instruction around the globe.

Its global impact is further enhanced through the
College of Education's commitment to educational reform and the democratization
of the educational system in Slovakia, Romania, Chile and China. UNI's
recent expansion into so many of the former Eastern bloc countries with
the "Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking" project has
extended it influence to nearly one-fifth of the world's land mass.
Intercultural student teaching opportunities in more than 20 states
and a dozen foreign countries, a Global Health Corps program where UNI
students have delivered health promotion programs, overseas exchange
and study opportunities, and the innovative and unique Camp Adventure
program that provides summer recreation programs for military dependent
youth and young people in American clubs and U.S. embassies, help rank
UNI at the top of the U.S. institutions in the number of students who
study abroad.

The University continues to vigorously pursue its
role as a leader in teacher education and is headquarters for the Renaissance
Group, a national consortium of universities with major commitments
to teacher education, seeking to impact teacher education reform nationwide.
Its student teaching network is a national model for the involvement
of practitioners in teacher education programs. The Minorities in teaching
Program, one of the first such programs in the nation, received the
Christa McAuliffe Showcase for Excellence Award for innovative programs
to attract minority youth into the teaching profession, from the American
Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). It has begun
returning minority teachers to Iowa classrooms where they were formerly
students. The teachers preparation programs in science and mathematics
have been cited by the AASCU for excellence as well. Also concerned
about the continuing professional development of teachers in the field,
UNI served from 1992 to 1998 as one of 20 field test sites across the
nation for National Board Professional Teaching Standards certification.
The UNI College of Education is now working in partnership with the
Iowa State Education Association and the School Administrators of Iowa,
on state grant that is preparing Iowa teachers for national teacher
certification.

The University of Northern Iowa continues to play
an active role in curriculum development in the public schools. Since
1915, UNI has been a leader in environmental education. Its OUTLOOK
program, a wide-ranging series of environmental education materials,
is now used internationally, as is its PRISMS program in physics, which
stresses hands-on learning. More recently it has developed the CRISTAL
program in chemistry with a similar focus.

The Regents Center for Early Developmental Education
located at UNI was established by the Legislature to serve as a focal
point for early childhood education in Iowa. Its research, professional
development activities, and model program development enhance efforts
to provide developmentally appropriate early education throughout the
state. Malcolm Price Laboratory School, the state's only laboratory
school, continues to be a place where teaching theory is put into practice,
and UNI's Institute for Educational Leadership works with educators
throughout the state to focus on and clarify key issues important to
education in Iowa and address issues of significance to Iowa's school
districts. The National Program for Playground Safety, with headquarters
at UNI, was created in 1995, and has developed a national action plan
to address the country's growing concern for playground safety and injury
prevention.

Moving beyond education, the University has forged partnerships
with Iowans as they work to diversify and expand the state's economy.
UNI's "Service to Iowa" programs are an exciting and tangible
link between on-campus expertise and the needs of Iowa communities,
businesses and industry. Their statewide success is already measurable
in real terms, including hundreds of jobs, business development and
expansion, community improvements and conservation of resources.

UNI's outreach programs through the External Services
Division of the College of Business Administration, including the Institute
for Decision Making, Small Business Development Center, Management &
Professional Development Center, Strategic Marketing Services, the John
Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center and the Ag-Based Industrial Lubricants
(ABIL) Research Program. All programs assist firms, organizations and
individuals in the private and public sectors. The Iowa Waste Reduction
Center (IWRC), established at UNI by the Iowa legislature, provides
free, non-regulatory consulting services on waste management to the
state's small and medium sized companies, saving them hundreds of thousands
of dollars and preventing tons of waste from ending up in Iowa landfills.
The Iowa Waste Exchange, managed by the IWRC, was honored nationally
for innovation in the administration of state government. Through March
1999, the Exchange diverted 293,199 tons of material destined for disposal,
saving 2,707 businesses nearly $6.9 million. The Center for Energy and
Environmental Education (CEEE), built with a $4 million grant from the
United States Department of Energy, is a model of energy efficiency
and environmental awareness and, among its many functions, serves as
a resource center for educational materials on energy and the environment.
In another area, the Metal Casting Center has continued to work with
Iowa foundries. More than 80 percent of the foundries in all parts of
the state have actively participated or are continuing to participate
in one or more of the Metal Casting Center's projects, outreach activities
and workshops, or have received direct technical assistance from MCC
professionals.

One of the three state-assisted universities administered
by the Iowa Board of Regents, UNI enjoys national recognition for its
high education standards. U.S. News and World Reportranked UNI
second among Midwest regional public universities in its 1999 America's
Best College Guide. In past years, UNI has been cited by the magazine
in a number of categories, including "#1 in academic reputation."
Among its nationally acclaimed programs in many disciplines, UNI's accounting
program continues to be ranked among the best in the nation, based upon
the quality of accountants it produces and its consistant rankings near
the top of percentage of candidates successfully passing all parts of
national certification examination. UNI student groups ranging from
chemistry to conservation to public relations have been recognized by
their respective national groups for the excellence of their programs
and its internationally acclaimed Jazz Band I consistently receives
the College Outstanding Performance Award from Down Beat Magazine.

UNI students also supplement their classroom learning
through participation in more than 180 university-recognized academic,
social, recreational and religious organizations. The University offers
a full calendar of fine- and performing-arts events, also open to the
public, and its 19 men's and women's intercollegiate athletics programs
compete at the NCAA Division I (football in IAA) in the Missouri Valley
Conference (football in the Gateway conference). The institution's landmark
UNI-Dome hosts a variety of sports events, floor shows and expositions,
as well as Iowa High School Football Playoffs and other state, regional
and national events. Its acclaimed Wellness & Recreation Center,
dedicated in 1998, is heavily used for both classes and student recreation,
exceeding expectations, and its new Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts
Center, scheduled to open in the spring of 2000 and house classes and
performance centers, were both made possible in part by funding from
the Iowa Legislature.

The University of Northern Iowa was founded in 1876
as the Iowa State Normal School. In 1909, it became Iowa State Teachers
College and was first accredited as a teachers college in 1913. In 1961,
the name was changed to State College of Iowa, and in 1967, the Iowa
Legislature acted to change the status of the institution to that of
a university under its present title.